On the shelves — Dec. 21

The following books are available for checkout at:

Clovis-Carver Public Library

What I Know For Sure by Oprah Winfrey offers a rare, powerful, and intimate glimpse into the heart and mind of one of the world’s most extraordinary women, while providing readers a candid, humorous, insightful, and uplifting guide to becoming their best selves.

The Night Searchers: A Sharon McCone Mystery by Marcia Muller puts the reputation and life of private detective Sharon McCone on the line as she embarks on a treasure hunt for an invaluable and dangerous prize in a case that unexpectedly intersects with that of her husband, who is looking for a kidnapped executive.

Operation Shakespeare: The True Story of an Elite International Sting by John Shiffman recounts an elaborate operation launched by a Homeland Security team that was created to stop Iran, Russia, China, and North Korea from stealing U.S. military technology, and to outwit the American defense contractors and bankers who were willing to put profit over national security.

The Dead Will Tell by Linda Castillo calls Chief of Police Kate Burkholder to the scene of an apparent suicide, but when evidence points to murder, she finds herself following an elusive trail leading to an unsolved crime that occurred 35 years in the past.

The Imperfect Marriage: Help for Those Who Think It’s Over by Darryl Strawberry distills the wisdom gained by a couple who have suffered through — and survived — adultery, addiction, financial destruction, and many other struggles to learn firsthand what it takes to make it through the battle and how to come out victorious.

Yarn Over Murder by Maggie Sefton is set in Fort Connor, Colorado, where Kelly Flynn and her knitting pals attempt to save a herd of alpacas from a raging wildfire and to solve the cold-blooded murder of a woman rancher who has split up with her husband because of his new girlfriend.

In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette by Hampton Sides resurrects a classic American adventure story in a spellbinding tale of heroism and determination in the most unforgiving territory on earth, after a ship sailed into uncharted seas, was trapped in ice, and the men found themselves marooned 1,000 miles north of Siberia.

The following books are available for checkout at:

Portales Public Library

Hope to Die by James Patterson. In the latest novel in Patterson's Alex Cross series and the direct follow-up to “Cross My Heart,” Alex Cross comes up against the most difficult situation of his long career with the NYPD.

A vicious yet intelligent serial killer known as Marcus Sunday has taken Cross's entire family away from him: his wife, Bree, Nana Mama, and all three of his children.

In order to get them back, Cross is forced to do whatever the psychotic man wants, but he fears that he may never see any of them alive again when it becomes clear that Sunday is intent on being the perfect murderer. When Cross is removed from the case for his personal connections, he pursues the case on his own, growing closer and closer to madness and a thirst for vengeance as Sunday-who hides his true nature behind a career in criminology and true crime writing-tortures the people that he loves most.

Us by David Nicholls. Douglas and Connie Peterson have been married for nearly 30 years, despite the fact that they are polar opposites. Douglas is a reserved biochemist, while Connie is a beautiful, outgoing artist, and Douglas thinks that they have had a happy marriage until Connie announces that she wants a divorce, believing that her predictable, dependable husband is now not enough for her.

This news comes right before the couple had planned to take their 17-year-old son, Albie, on a trip through the artistic capitols in Europe before going to college, and because it will be the last holiday they take together as a family with Albie, both Connie and Douglas decide to go through with their plans.

Douglas realizes that this may be his last chance to salvage his marriage, so as they start their trip in Paris, he plans to use his time to its advantage and rekindle the romance that once existed between him and his wife, as well as try to get to know Albie, who he has never really connected with. But when Albie takes off on his own, Douglas hopes that by finding his son and bringing him back, he can redeem himself in Connie's eyes.

In Real Life by Lawrence Tabak. Seth Gordon is a 15-old-year math prodigy from Kansas who wants to do one thing and one thing only: play video games as much as possible. Obsessed with the computer game Starfare, Seth spends all of his free time striving to better his gaming skills, with the goal of one day going to South Korea to be a famous game player.

But Seth also has school and divorced parents to deal with, as well as an interesting girl named Hannah, who Seth can't seem to stop thinking about, despite the fact that she seems to be sending him mixed signals. But then Seth's tournament scores impress Team Anaconda, one of the best professional squads in South Korea, and suddenly Seth is traveling across the world to train for his dream. However, culture shock and pressure from his new teammates provides Seth with complications he didn't expect, but as he begins to make friends and works out a mathematical solution to playing Starfare, Seth finds his life pointing in a different direction.